Herds of Wisdom

07/24/2025

https://youtu.be/UeYNYME_MYM?si=D0hnyxZuyUuZqwVV

Vancouver International Airport has expanded the therapy dog program for anxious travelers. On Tuesday, YVR introduced ponies' -- Magic and Tinkerbell. Angel...

10/23/2024

having so much fun teaching my little nephews all about horses. Just love seeing them light up as they gain confidence riding.

02/11/2024

this. People make things far more complicated than they have to.

I wish a lot more horse people would come watch wild horses be worked for the first time.

I think one of the reasons I find forceful or fear based training so abhorrent is because I know how incredibly intelligent horses can be, how little force it takes them to do a job willingly. That these prey animals, who we have bred to work with us and selected for traits such as trainability for thousands of years, really don't need or deserve to be terrorised. Nor do I think it produces the best results.

It will never cease to amaze and humble me to work with a wild horses and have it actively understand and engage with you from the very first minutes. So many horses I work with will grasp the fundamentals of a completely new language from us in a completely new environment within the very first moments. How many people are capable of learning that quickly?

I think anyone who has watched a horse learn that way has their concept of what horses are capable of shaped and changed profoundly. Some of why I created an online course was to be able to show this for a wider audience as I truly think it helps people understand their own horses at home even better.

People say horses are fight or flight animals, truthfully though I think the vast majority of horses are flight. Given the chance they want to avoid confrontation, they don't want conflict. Which is I think is what makes over the top use of force harder to understand and to me points to a complete lack of awareness or understanding of horse behaviour.

This is not to say you let the horse do whatever it wants, I think for me it is having clarity in your work that creates a willing partner. When you make all your movements, the way you give aids, your timing and how you ask a horse to do something clear, it tells the horse how much you care. It shows your horse you're aware of who it is and by default they become more of aware you and want to work with you. I will always believe and be humbled by the fact horses are all to willing to work with us sometimes far more than some people deserve. For this we owe them fair training with understanding and kindness in return.

Photo: The Black, Hammond Images